Is The Great American Whiskey Shortage Overdone?

Are we headed for Whiskeygeddon?Don’t believe it.(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

As soon as the Tennessee whiskey law wrangle was out of the news, it was replaced by “The Great American Whiskey Shortage.” Sparked by an announcement from Buffalo Trace that they wouldn’t be able to meet demand for the foreseeable future, the storyline has been flogged in the mainstream media for a month now. Much like the whiskey shortfall itself, the story has no end in sight.

Along the way, the story has been inflated from Buffalo Trace announcing the necessity continue its rationing policy for many of its brands for the foreseeable future into a veritable Whiskeygeddon, a Summer of the Shark-style hysteria. According to this telling, a painful crisis awaits whiskey drinkers, one that will see entire liquor store shelves laid bare, astronomical prices, and declining quality in American whiskey products.

However, this problem is nowhere near as severe as this recent example of yellow journalism in effect would make it out. Demand for American whiskey has undeniably surged ahead of supply, especially in the last few years, and that has been marked by a handful of adjustments. Wild Turkey increased their barreling proof, Maker’s Mark attempted to water down their bourbon and is now using barrel wash to eek it out, and Buffalo Trace introduced their aforementioned rationing in place of jacking up prices. Almost unnoticed, except by Steve Ury of Sku’s Recent Eats, has been the shift of many expressions to No Age Statement (NAS) status.

At the same time, the single worst symptom of a whiskey shortage was caused by the media itself, when the idea that W.L. Weller expressions could serve as a Pappy Van Winkle substitute caught on, was repeated on multiple major websites and in magazines, and caused a run on everything named “Weller.” Excepting when the rye craze caught the industry in general unawares, this is the only instance of a whole class of whiskey disappearing from American shelves nationwide during the entire ongoing boom.

Google Search

About Our Rating System

The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh.

A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Above five stars.A: An outstanding bottle of whiskey, but lacking that special something which makes for a true masterpiece. Five stars.A-: A fine bottle of whiskey, representing the top end of the conventional, premium range.B+: Very good stuff. Four stars.B and B-: Good and above average. The best of the mass market whiskeys fit in this category, as do the bulk of the premium brands. A B- is three stars.C+ to C-: Average whiskey. A C- is two stars.D+ to D-: Below average whiskey. A D is one star and a D- one-half of a star.F: Zero stars. Rotgut.